BMW Championship:
With a final-round 5-under-par 33-34=67, overnight leader and past champ Dustin Johnson won the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club by three shots over Paul Casey, posting a tournament record (to par) of 23-under 265, eclipsing 22-under two times, most recently by Jason Day in 2015 (Conway Farms GC).
Johnson reaps 2,000 FedExCup (FEC) points for the win, nudging from 3rd in the FEC standings to a career-best 1st, bumping Patrick Reed (T13) to 2nd.
Top 5 in FEC Standings:
1. Dustin Johnson (up two)
2. Patrick Reed (down one)
3. Adam Scott (up two)
4. Jason Day (down two)
5. Paul Casey (up five)
Dropped out of Top 5 in FEC:
Rory McIlroy (4th to 6th)
With a Strength of Field rating of 663, Johnson banked 70.00 world-ranking points, maintaining his No. 2 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), 2.3091 average points behind No. 1 Day, who withdrew during the final round with back spasms.
This was Johnson’s FIRST tournament using a TaylorMade Spider Limited mallet-style putter – with a charcoal grey crown – which he BORROWED from his brother. He finished 2nd in SG: Putting (7.307); 1st in total putts (103); 1st in putts per GIR (1.519) and 1st in birdies with 24 (see full stats below).
The 32-year-old claims his 12th PGA TOUR title in his 200th career start and third win of the season in 21 events, each coming in his last eight starts.
He joins Day as the only three-time winners this season and is his third win in the FEC Playoffs, joining Tiger Woods and McIlroy for the most all-time.
Thursday’s opening round was mired by a weather delay of 3 hours and 33 minutes, eventually stranding 36 (of 69) players due to darkness. On an aside, even with a threat of inclement weather, the TOUR didn’t begin the opener until 10:03 am ET off a single tee with the weather suspension occurring at 1:27 pm.
The South Carolinian was one (of 33) fortunate enough to get their respective laps completed on Thursday, kicking off with a seven-birdie two-bogey 67 (T3).
He served notice on Friday with a bogey-free 9-under 63, breaking the course record of 64 previously held by seven other players, six in the 2012 edition and Ryan Palmer, who posted his earlier on Day 2.
By the end of play on Friday, Johnson co-led with Roberto Castro, who opened with twin 65s.
It was his third 36-hole lead/co-lead of the season, joining the U.S. Open, where he led outright at halftime and went on to win his first Major, and the RBC Canadian Open, where he co-led at the midpoint but would eventually finish in a three-way T2.
Johnson’s 63 also tied a season low (76 rounds) and featured five birdies and two eagle-3s (at holes 9 and 15), both from off the green. His first was a hole-out from a greenside bunker at 9, 45'7" from the target, and the second was a 25-footer from the fringe at 15 that completed his scoring.
With preferred lies in effect for Round 3, the Coastal Carolina product was not flawless but took control with a 68. He answered a pair of bogeys at Nos. 1 and 13 with six birdies, finishing off in grand style with four birdies over his final five holes and pushing three clear of last week’s runner-up at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Paul Casey.
This marked Johnson’s eighth lead of the season after ANY round, but FIRST thru 54 holes. His wins at the U.S. Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational were both in come-from-behind fashion, though as noted above, he was a 36-hole co-leader at the U.S. Open.
In the finale, Johnson lost the three-stroke cushion by the third hole, opening in birdie-bogey-bogey while Casey began in par-birdie-birdie. Similar to his performance to close out R3 however, he then reeled off four circles over his next five holes. At the break, he had regained the three-shot cushion:
1- Dustin Johnson: -21 (thru 9 holes)
2- Paul Casey: -18 (thru 9)
3- Roberto Castro: -16 (10)
4- Adam Scott: -13 (10)
T5- Charl Schwartzel: -12 (in with 64)
T5- J.B. Holmes: -12 (10)
Johnson birdied the par-5 11th, stiffing his third shot from 87 yards to 19 inches, but gave it back with bogey-4 at 13. Two holes later, he dropped a pivotal eagle-3 at the 15th (from 18'1"), right on top of Casey’s eagle from 24’9”. Each player would finish with three pars for the final margin.
Johnson began the finale with a three-shot lead over Casey, led by three at the turn, and in the end, won by three.
For the week, he tallied three eagles and was a cumulative 15-under on the four par 5s. He improves to 3-for-7 as a 54-hole leader/co-leader and 5-for-9 when leading/co-leading at the midpoint.
The victory comes in Johnson’s 21st start of the season and is his 18th top-25 finish. It’s also his 14th top 10, extending his TOUR lead in that stat to three over Reed (with 11) and four better than Matt Kuchar and Day. Ridiculously, 11 of DJ’s 14 top 10s double as top 5s.
He arrived off a missed cut at the PGA Championship (his only MC of the season), T18 (Barclays) and T8 at the Deutsche Bank.
This was the 10th playing of the BMW in the FEC era and second at Crooked Stick GC in Carmel, Indiana (2012). The 7,567-yard par-72 layout (36-36) played under par in all four rounds with a cumulative scoring average of 70.825. Note: Preferred lies were in effect for ALL four rounds.
Johnson posted rounds of 67-63-68-67 for 18.303 SG: Total.
Making his seventh BMW appearance, this was his second win. Coincidentally, he won the 2010 edition (Cog Hill G&CC) by one over Casey as well.
Johnson’s third individual tournament win in the Playoffs leaves seven players with two wins, two of which advanced to the TOUR Championship in two weeks: Phil Mickelson and Jason Day. Note: Two-time winners Henrik Stenson (DNP) and Billy Horschel (T10) were eliminated this week.
Johnson has won at least once in each of his first nine seasons, the longest current streak on TOUR, but this is his first three-win campaign, surpassing a two-win season in 2010.
Paul Casey: Last week, the 39-year-old was the 54-hole leader by three at TPC Boston but limped home in 1-over 36 for a closing 73 (after opening in trip 66s). It allowed McIlroy to race by with 65 to best him by two.
Unlike McIlroy however, who was the defending champion on this course and finished 20 shots back of Johnson, Casey showed his staying power with rounds of 67-66-68-67.
His runner-up finish is his seventh in 195 career starts, second consecutive, and sixth top 10 of the season in 21 events. He’s a cumulative 33-under over his last eight rounds.
The Englishman’s lone TOUR title remains the 2009 Shell Houston Open where he was a 54-hole co-leader and won in a playoff, but, he’s just $11,000 short of a career mark in season earnings after pocketing slightly north of $1.8 million the past two weeks.
Casey was No. 1 for the week in total bogeys with just two, and subsequently, No. 1 in scrambling at 88.89 percent (16/18). At one point, he played 50 consecutive holes without a blemish.
Winner’s Weekly Stats (ranking of 68 players):
Eagles: 3 (T1)
Birdies: 24 (1st)
Bogeys: 7 (T11)
Par-3 Scoring: 3.06 (T27)
Par-4 Scoring: 3.78 (1st) * (TOUR-leader for season at 3.96)
Par-5 Scoring: 4.06 (1st)
Driving Distance: 319.3 yards (1st)
Driving Accuracy: 36/56 (T28) at 64.29 percent
Greens in Regulation: 52/72 (T11) at 72.22 percent
Proximity to Hole: 36’0” (T47)
Putts per GIR: 1.519 (1st)
Total Putts: 103 (1st); by round: 23-25-27-28
Scrambling: 14/20 (T18) at 70.00 percent
SG: Off-the-Tee: 6.248 (1st)
SG: Approach-the-Green: 3.161 (17th)
SG: Around-the-Green: 1.587 (14th)
SG: Tee-to-Green: 10.995 (3rd)
SG: Putting: 7.307 (2nd)
Golf Channel Perfect Picks ($3,349,850):
Group 1: Dustin Johnson (Won): $1,530,000
Group 2: Matt Kuchar (T4): $323,850
Group 3: Paul Casey (2nd): $918,000
Group 4: Roberto Castro (3rd): $578,000
Yahoo! Low Rounds:
R1: Roberto Castro (65)
R2: Dustin Johnson (63) * course record
R3: Billy Horschel; Adam Scott; Bill Haas (67)
R4: Charl Schwartzel (64)
What We Learned:
The pre-tourney odds-favorite(s) have won just TWICE this season thru 45 events and Jordan Spieth has both of them, winning the Hyundai TOC and the DEAN & DELUCA.
Rory McIlroy: Past champ (2012) and World No. 3 was the pre-tourney fave at 11/2 outright. As mentioned above, he entered the week off a come-from-behind win at the Deutsche Bank but was unable to keep the momentum posting a dismal T42 (68-72-73-72).
He checked in ranked 4th in the FEC standings but dropped to 6th and no longer controls his own destiny at the TOUR Championship.
Patrick Reed: The FEC leader entering the week dipped one spot to 2nd with a T13 on 9-under 279 (70-70-71-68).
No one can say they’re looking forward to the upcoming one-week break more than the 26-year-old, who finished off seven straight weeks of competition with his seventh consecutive top-25 finish, SIX of which are T13 or better, highlighted by his win at The Barclays.
Adam Scott: With Reed’s T13 and fellow seven-straight-week competitor Ryan Moore’s T64 on 6-over 294 (73-74-71-76), the 36-year-old is the only player remaining in the Playoffs that has posted three straight top 10s to begin the postseason. His just happen to be top 5s to boot, posting T4-4 and another T4 this week on 12-under 276 (69-69-67-71).
The Aussie began the week 5th in the FEC standings and bumped two spots to 3rd, thereby maintaining control over his own destiny at East Lake GC in Atlanta.
The two-time winner this season now has eight top 10s in 19 starts, SEVEN of which are top 5s. For the week, he totaled one eagle and 15 birdies against five bogeys and was T1 in greens in regulation at 80.56 percent (58/72).
Special Section:
Four players began the week OUTSIDE the top 30 in FEC points and moved IN to advance to East Lake:
Roberto Castro: The 31-year-old finished solo third on 17-under 271, vaulting 32 places from 53rd in the FEC to 21st, and securing a second trip to his adopted hometown’s TOUR Championship (T9/2013).
Following opening rounds of 65-65, he led outright after 18 holes and co-led thru 36 holes. A third-round 74 derailed the Georgia Tech alum’s chances for a first TOUR title in his 126th career start, but finished strong with a 5-under 32-35=67, highlighted by a hole-out eagle-2 at the seventh from 160 yards away.
He drops to 0-for-4 when the 36-hole leader/co-leader but recorded his fourth top 10 of the season (26 events), first since P2 at the Wells Fargo.
Charl Schwartzel: The 32-year-old twirled a bogey-free 33-31=64 in the final round, one of only two blemish-free laps in R4 (Kevin Kisner/67), to back-door a T4 on 12-under 276 (70-70-72-64), up 22 places on the day.
He is the last player to get into the TOUR Championship, jumping 13 places to 30th in the FEC standings and will be making his second appearance, first since 2013 where he finished 29th of 30 players.
Like Johnson, the South African instituted a new flat stick this week, two actually. He made the switch off a visit to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, neighbor Louis Oosthuizen, receiving two versions of a PING TR Anser W to experiment with.
According to the TOUR, the Nike athlete opened the tournament with a PING TR 1966 before making a change just before the final round to the Cadence TR Anser W.
En route to his season-low 64, he was No. 1 in SG: Putting in the final round at 4.237.
J.B. Holmes: The 34-year-old backed up with a 2-over-par 38-36=74 in the final round to post 12-under 276, down one place into a five-way T4, a distant 11 in arrears to champion Johnson.
After opening laps of 69-65-68, he began the final frame in solo third on 14-under, four back. Playing out of the penultimate twosome, he struggled to three birdies outbalanced by three bogeys and a double bogey-6 at the 14th that completed his scoring.
Of the 10 players comprising the final five twosomes on Sunday, the Kentucky native was the only player to not break par. He landed just 12 greens in regulation and posted a disappointing -2.765 SG: Approach-the-Green and 2.000 putts per GIR.
It’s Holmes’ sixth top 10 of the season in 21 starts, fourth top 5, and bumped 14 spots from 42nd in the FEC standings to 28th, earning his second straight trip to East Lake (T8/2015). For the week, he carded one eagle and 19 birdies against seven bogeys and a double.
Daniel Berger: The 23-year-old bobbed and weaved to a 3-under-par 34-35=69 in the final round to finish up his second appearance on 10-under 278 (70-68-71-69), up two places into a three-way T10.
It’s his sixth top 10 of the season in 25 starts and nudged from 31st in the FEC standings to 26th. For the week, he totaled 18 birdies against eight bogeys.
The Floridian was the only TOUR rookie to make it to the TOUR Championship last year and posted a T12 en route to Rookie of the Year honors.
The four players knocked out of the top 30 in FEC points were: Rickie Fowler (22nd to 31st) with a 59th-place finish; Sergio Garcia (25th to 32nd) with a T47; Brooks Koepka (30th to 35th) with a T32, and Henrik Stenson (24th to 36th) who did not play.
Up Next:
The TOUR takes an atypical week off before heading to Atlanta, Georgia, for the TOUR Championship at the 7,385-yard par-70 (35-35) East Lake Golf Club, where Jordan Spieth is the defending champion.
Traditionally, the week break during the Playoffs comes between the Deutsche Bank (second leg) and the BMW (third leg), but due to the Ryder Cup and more specifically, the Olympics, the pause was shifted.
Spieth won last year’s finale as the 54-hole leader (by one), eventually winning by four over runners-up Danny Lee, Justin Rose, and Henrik Stenson with a closing 69.
It was his fifth win of the season; regained World No. 1; won the FEC crown; and won Player of the Year honors.
Interestingly enough, none of the above mentioned runners-up, Lee, Rose or Stenson, qualified for this year’s edition. The T5s from last year did however, Johnson, Bubba Watson and Casey.
Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and analysis as the TOUR contests the fourth (and final) leg of the Playoffs and the 46th and final event of the season.
